246 DUTSIN-MA JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND LITERATURE (DUJEL

AN X-BAR THEORETIC ACCOUNT OF JENJO NOUN PHRASES

Peace Benson1
Gerry O. Ayieko2

Abstract
This study analyses the Jenjo noun phrase in X-bar convention. X-bar
has been the focal point of linguistic theory and has changed the way
linguists view syntactic model today. X-bar deals with head categories
and recognizes the variability of these categories across languages despite
the notions of the ‘Principles and Parameters’. In this respect, Jenjo
noun phrase may well be explained within X-bar framework. Therefore,
this paper gives the X-bar theoretic account of Jenjo noun phrases.
Jenjo is an Adamawa-Ubangi language group spoken in parts of Taraba
State, Adamawa State and Gombe State North East Nigeria. The aim
of this study is to analyze the Jenjo noun phrase using X-bar theory.
Jenjo New Testament Bible and the researcher’s introspection form
the basis for the data. The study determined Jenjo as a head-first
language, most elements within the Jenjo NP are post-head. Jenjo
complements branch at N¹ and are sister to their head noun. Adjuncts
are sister to N¹ and daughter to N¹. Specifiers expand N¹ to N¹¹ they
occur on the left and right of the head noun phrase. we find that a
single noun can function as a noun phrase and it is obligatory.
Intermediate categories exist in Jenjo NP. There are nominal
constituents that are larger than noun but smaller than full nominal
phrase. For instance, vYaka de a Jos ‘the city of Jos’ constitutes a full
noun phrase while vYakaÞ a Jos ‘city of Jos’ is an intermediate category
that is smaller than the full NP and larger than a word. Similarly,
complements in Jenjo branch at X¹ in the tree diagram and are vital to
the head i.e. closer to the head than adjunct. Genitive NP and
complement PP function as constituents in Jenjo NP.

Keywords: Noun Phrase, X-bar, Jenjo, Complements, Adjuncts.

Peace Benson1, Department of English and Literary Studies, Federal University

Wukari, P.M.B 1020, Taraba State, Nigeria.
Gerry O. Ayieko2 , PhD, Kenyatta University, Department of Englishand
Linguistics, Mombasa Campus, P.O Box 16778-80100, Mombasa, Kenya.
 AN X-BAR THEORETIC ACCOUNT OF JENJO NOUN PHRASES 247

Introduction
This paper gives a theoretic account of Jenjo noun phrase structure in an X-
bar convention. The name ‘Jenjo’ is variously used to refer to the language
and the ethnic group of the Jenjo people. Dza is the actual name but they
are commonly known as Jenjo. Other names are Jen and Janjo. Jenjo is
spoken in Taraba, Adamawa and Gombe States, North-east, Nigeria. In
Taraba State, the speakers of Jenjo are found in Karim-Lamido, Lau, Jalingo,
Ardo-Kola, Bali, and Ibi Local Government areas. The Jenjo people are also
found in Numan and Lamurde Local Government area of Adamawa while
in Gombe State, they are found in Balanga and Akko Local Government
areas. In Language Ethnologue written by Paul, Simons, and Fennig (2015),
Jenjo is classified as a Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, North,
Adamawa-Ubangi, Adamawa, Waja-Jen, and Jen.
Jenjo, being one of the minority languages in Nigeria has not been
extensively studied as is the case with Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba languages.
Hausa is widely spoken in North East Nigeria. It is taking over other
languages in the region. Inter-marriage with other tribes, and immigration
to urban areas cause the language to be threatened (endangered)
Generally, Jenjo is spoken at homes and partly in marketplaces, Jenjo is
spoken to Jenjo sellers and Hausa is spoken to Hausa sellers in Jen (Jenjo
village with the highest number of Jenjo people). There are no written
materials in Jenjo at schools or churches except the Jenjo New Testament
Bible that is 75% completed and in circulation. Children are taught in
English at school and pastors preach with Hausa in churches.
In Principles and Parameter, the head parameter in any language is
supposed to be head-first and head-last. X-bar deals with the head category,
there are no constant cross-category elements specific to head complement
order. X-bar captures this cross-category. X-bar is used to account for Jenjo
noun phrases because it clarifies and simplifies phrase structure grammar.
The choice of the theory is due to the fact that UG principles apply to all
languages. Though noun phrase may have been over-studied, Jenjo noun
phrase has a distinctive feature that is worth studying. The theory of X-bar
was first proposed by Chomsky (1970) which is one of the modules of
Government and Binding. The theory deals with a relationship between
248 DUTSIN-MA JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND LITERATURE (DUJEL

the head of a phrase and other dependents within the phrase. It is a theory
of syntactic category that phrases such as NP, VP, AP, and PP contain
intermediate constituents that can be projected maximally. X-bar deals with
head category and it simplifies and clarifies the Phrase Structure Grammar.
It was further developed by Jakendoff (1977) and more refined by Radford
(1988). The theory tries to identify language universal syntactic properties
as well as language-specific features. It provides an opportunity for discovering
the variation between languages. This theory accounts for the category that
is larger than word and smaller than a full phrase i.e the maximal projection,
intermediate projection and minimal projection.The choice of this theory
is due to the principles of UG that apply to all languages.

Source: (Carnie, 2000:116)

Previous Studies
There is a growing number of studies on noun phrases by African linguists,
especially in the Bantu language group. Studies such as Amare (1999),
Rugemalira (2007), Lusekelo (2009) and Wabwire (2010) are among them.
Jenjo a member of the Adamawa-Ubangi language group, has not been
broadly studied. The noun phrase is a phrase that is headed by a noun. For
example, a structure such as “The king of Utopia” is a noun phrase comprising
 AN X-BAR THEORETIC ACCOUNT OF JENJO NOUN PHRASES 249

the head noun “king”, the complement “of Utopia” and its specifier “the”
(Radford, 2004). Therefore, the noun phrase is a phrase consisting of a
noun and other dependents and the noun serving as the head of the phrase.
Across linguistics, NP is either the head noun alone and/or the head noun
with other dependents (modifiers) preceding or following it.
Rugemalira (2007) discusses the syntax of noun phrase in several Bantu
languages such as Swahili, Nyambo, Sukuma, Ha, Nyakyusa and Mashami.
He examines the Syntax of the noun and its dependent elements. He
presents the structure of a noun phrase in Bantu as one having Pre-
determiner, Noun, Determiner and Modifier. He establishes that the pre-
determiners of these languages are either possessives or demonstrative and
the modifiers are numeral ordinal or associative, quantifier, adjective and
relative clause. The distributive and demonstrative occupy the pre-determiner
slot and cannot co-occur. Second, the NP of these languages has limit because
of the syntactic and semantic restrictions on the co-occurrence of the
elements of the NP. The NPs cannot expand indefinitely because of the
cumulative effects of the restrictions. Rugemalira (2007) states that Swahili
has the following NP structure: {Dem, Noun, Poss, Num, Ord, Adj, Quant,
Asso.}. The elements common in all these Bantu languages are the
determiners appearing before and after the head noun either as possessive
or demonstrative except Sukuma whose possessive, demonstrative and
relative clause vary position freely but after the head noun.
Similarly, White (2006) conducted a study of X-bar and Standard Arabic.
He sheds more light on the advantages of X-bar theory instead of phrase
structure rules and reveals the consistency of X-bar theory towards all phrasal
categories. White’s (2006) view Standard Arabic as DP not NP. He states
that the DPs in Standard Arabic exhibit a little variation. Determiners in
Arabic fail to detach from their relevant NP complement. Standard Arabic
chooses not to spell out the content of the DPs if the NPs are attached to
the determiners. He adds that X-bar theory is flexible enough to incorporate
all cross-linguistic variation. White’s (2006) study is relevant to the present
work because it gives insight on the application of the theory on a language
that is different from English which the theory was first applied. Offiong
(2011) examines the internal Syntax of NPs in Efik, a Lower-Cross language
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of Niger-Congo family spoken in Southern Cross River State, Nigeria. His

study focuses on the various types of modifying elements and their positions
in relation to the heads of noun phrase. He investigates the grammatical
affinity that holds between syntactic constituents like complement, adjunct
and determiner with the head of the NP and proposes an analysis of the
relevant grammatical functions of NPs in Efik using X-bar theory. His
findings show that Efik has three word order typologies. These are the
prenominal modifier, post-nominal modifiers and neutral order. For
prenominal elements, the constituents of the NP that precede it are
(Quantifier) (Ordinal Number) (Adjective) noun. Post-nominal are N (Poss)
(Cardinal numeral) (Dem/ Det). The neutral order involves a noun, not
modified by elements before or after it. The prenominal modifier elements
that precede the noun are quantifier, ordinal, numeral and adjective. The
elements that post modify are possessive, cardinal numeral, determiner and
demonstrative. He concludes that Efik has an inflexible word order in
relation to the head noun and its modifying elements. His work is similar
to this study on analysis of NPs but it also differs in terms of language
group. It is similar in the sense that Jenjo has pre-nominal and post-nominal
elements
Aboh (1998) studied the Syntax of Gungbe noun phrases, where the
determiner obligatorily follows the nominal. The noun is interpreted as
specific in the sense that it necessarily refers to an entity which is previously
established in discourse or context such as:

(1) Távò lɔ́

Table Det
‘The (specific) table’.

The Gungbe noun must also precede adjectives that modify it, exhibits a
number marker (or plurality specification) which may co-occur with the
specificity marker in a fixed order specificity marker-number marker. It also
shows that the Gungbe DP allows for the co-occurrence of noun, adjective,
demonstrative, determiner and number marker. The Gungbe determiner
and number marker co-occur with elements that are commonly assumed to
 AN X-BAR THEORETIC ACCOUNT OF JENJO NOUN PHRASES 251

be inserted in the determiner position. He states that the determiner,

number marker, demonstratives etc projects its own X-bar schema. He
concludes that the Gungbe determiner phrase has a head-initial underlying
structure. The DP includes different functional projections, NumP, DemP,
NralP etc which project between D¯ and NP. He follows Abney’s DP-
hypothesis to describe Gungbe noun phrases. This study chooses to use
the NP- hypothesis because Sanusi (2014) proposed a parameter for SVO
languages with pre-modification like English adopt DP- analysis and those
with post-modification like Yoruba to adopt NP-analysis to ensure head-
initial value for the two categories of languages. Therefore, the DP-analysis
should not be over-generalized for the syntactic analysis of every human
language. This paper gives a theoretic account of Jenjo noun phrases in
general not just the head but also other dependents that may occur in the
noun phrase.

Methodology
The study adopted descriptive research design in collecting, describing and
analyzing the data. This enabled the researchers to use secondary data and
incorporate the researchers’ intuition. There was a random selection of
noun phrases from each of 5 chapters of the Jenjo New Testament Bible
considering the structures. With the objectives of the study in mind, the
noun phrases were elicited from the five books and the researcher’s
introspection as a Jenjo native speaker. The five books are: Luke, Galatians,
11 Thessalonians, Titus and 11 Peter.
252 DUTSIN-MA JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND LITERATURE (DUJEL

Data Analysis
We analysed the Jenjo NPs on X-bar tree.The tree diagrams were assigned based on schematic
forms of X-bar from the simple to the complex NP. A symbol with this sign (ʹʹ) represents a full
phrase and (ʹ) represents a phrase. H means head and N means noun. For each NP there is a
grammatical and X-bar terminology given.
Head
(1) Esehywī
Brethren

The head noun is an obligatory element in an NP and it can be projected maximally as shown in
(1b) above. That is to say the determiners, complements and adjuncts are not obligatory in Jenjo
NP. Above is the theoretic account of head alone of simple NP.
 AN X-BAR THEORETIC ACCOUNT OF JENJO NOUN PHRASES 253

Specifiers
Det+N
2a). Vəakã de
Vəakã de
City the
‘The city’.
(H+Spec)

Articles are specifiers in Jenjo and are post-nominals. It is the sister to Nʹ and daughter to Nʹʹ.
N+Num
3a). Eiləng bwagyɛ
E-iləng bwagyɛ
Pl-Calabash Four
‘Four calabashes’.
(H+Spec)

Numerals and nouns formed parts of the simple noun phrases in Jenjo. Numerals are post-nominal
elements in Jenjo. The following examples are the X-bar account of the complex NPs structure in
Jenjo.
N+Det
4a) Pisahu akə
School What
‘What school’.
(H+Spec)
N+Card+Ord
5a). Eimwə bwata ochi
E-imwə bwata Ochi
Pl-child three First
‘the first three children’.
(H+Spec+Spec)
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We have specifier co-occurring in (5b) above which corresponds to Wabwire (2010) that Olukhayo
NPs can have than one specifier.
Complements
N+PP (H+Complement)
6) a. Sede a dzungdzung
sede a dzungdzung
money of Plenty
‘A lot of money’.

In (6b) the N sede expands the PP a dzungdzung to Nʹ. Thus, PP functions as complement of the
N. It tells us the quantity of the money. It is the complement of the head noun because it completes
the meaning.
N+Genitive NP
7a). Emwambwi və Yeso
Emwambwi və Yeso
Disciples of Jesus
‘disciples of Jesus
(H+Complement)

It is observed that the genitive NP emwambwi ve Yeso ‘disciples of Jesus’ could also mean ‘Jesus’s
disciples’.
N+PP
8a) Nɨngabe və eifɨ fangwa
Evil Of Pl-people world
‘Evil of the people of the world’.
(H+Complement)
 AN X-BAR THEORETIC ACCOUNT OF JENJO NOUN PHRASES 255

The N nɨngabe expands PP və eifɨ fangwa to Nʹ nɨngabe və eifɨ fangwa. i.e. the PP is sister to N
and daughter of Nʹ. This shows the prepositional phrase is complement of the noun in the phrase.
4.3 Adjunct
N+Det+Adj

9a). Marori de tswə́ ni

Marori de tswə́ ni
Rice the Small
‘The small rice’.
(H+Adjunct)

In (9b) above, the N marori is the head, the determiner de post-modifies the head while the AP
tswə́ ni is the adjunct. It is the adjunct because it does not complete the meaning of the phrase
rather, it is an additional information that the phrase can do without. Because adjuncts are sister
and daughter to a bar level, another intermediate category was created fit into that position. This
agrees with Radford (1988) view that NP has an intermediate category.
N+Rel. Cl

10a). Dəronɨ a sakənɨ

‘The book which you read’.
(H+Adjunct)

The above tree in (10b) illustrates the relative clause in X-bar. The N dəro expands to Nʹ then to
another Nʹ because the Nʹ which contains the relative clause is not required by the head noun dəro
‘book’. Hence, an adjunct, adjuncts are sisters and daughter to a bar level (Nʹ).
N+Adj+Rel.cl
11a). Ho hyɛnɨ a jənɨ
‘The red bag which you bought’.
(H+Adjunct)
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The relative clause as a modifier is an adjunct as seen in (10) and (11) according to X-bar schema.
N+Adj+Adj
12)a. Dəro ahu apɨkang
Dəro ahu apɨkang
Book new nice
‘A new nice book’.
(H+Adjunct)

N+Det+PP

13a). Kē kəakulɨ təngsə kwə de nɨ

Kē kəakulɨ təngsə kwə de nɨ
Every chair In room the Compl

‘Every chair in the room’.

(Spec+H+Adjunct)

The tree in (13b) has the specifier on the left, the head and the adjunct on the right. The specifier
precedes the head noun and the adjunct follows the head noun. This structure is not a common
occurrence in Jenjo noun phrases, it only occurs if the noun phrase contains a
distributive/quantifier as this. It reveals adjunct rule that expands Nʹ into sequence [Nʹ PP] as stated
in Radford (1988:182).
Det+N+Adj+PP
14a Ké ekwi ibwi mi afilɨ amwilɨ bwammɨ nɨ kabi le be le kabu kwalɨ

Ké e-kwi ibwi mi afilɨ amwilɨ nɨ kabi le be kabu kwakwali

Each Pl-old man my tall Fat Det black those with leg bow
 AN X-BAR THEORETIC ACCOUNT OF JENJO NOUN PHRASES 257

‘each of those my five tall fat black men with bow legs’.
(Spec+H+Adjunct+Adjunct)

The above complex NP in (14) has multiple adjuncts. These adjuncts can swap their order and the
meaning will still be grammatical. The Nʹʹ contains specifier, head and adjunct. The first Aʹʹ that
is sister and daughter to Nʹ is an adjective that pre-modifies the head noun which is attributive.
The third Nʹ that is dominated by Nʹ and sister to Aʹʹ contains the head noun and it can be full NP
because it has the specifier mi ‘my’. This corresponds with Wabwire (2010) whose study in
Olukhayo shows that possessives, distributives and demonstratives occasionally occur in
Olukhayo. These are the specifiers that are left-handed in the Olukhayo NP tree diagram which is
similar to Jenjo. Also, the current study corresponds to Carnie (2000) who shows that NP can have
multiple adjuncts. The illustration that follows is that of conjoined NP in Jenjo.
15a Efarisi bi einyinasɨ lenwa və Musa
E-farisi bi e-inyinasɨ lenwa və Musa
Pl-pharisee and Pl-teacher law of Moses
‘Pharisees and teachers of law of Moses’.
(N+PP)
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The conjunction bi ‘and’ conjoined the two heads in the NP in (15) above. This shows that there
is a relationship between the specifier, complement and adjunct with the head noun in Jenjo NP.
This corresponds to the study by Offiong (2011) that grammatical affinity holds between syntactic
constituents like determiner complement and adjunct with the head of NPs in Efik using X-bar
theory.

Findings
This study discovered that a single noun can function as a noun phrase and it is obligatory.
Intermediate categories exist in Jenjo NP just as indicated by (Carnie 2000 and Radford 1988).
There are nominal constituents that are larger than noun but smaller than full nominal phrase. For
instance, vəaka de a Jos ‘the city of Jos’ constitutes a full noun phrase while vəakã a Jos ‘city of
Jos' is an intermediate category that is smaller than the full NP and larger than a word. Similarly,
complements in Jenjo branch at Xʹ in the tree diagram and are vital to the head i.e. closer to the
head than adjunct. Genitive NP and complement PP function as constituents in Jenjo NP. Consider
‘kwə və bi’ (room our) ‘our room’. This is so because they can occur with pronoun.
It is evident that there is an immediate level between the word level and the phrase level. It is
possible to reduce the NP to vəakã a Jos that is ‘city of Jos’ without the determiner de ‘the’. This
shows that Nʹʹ can be reduced to Nʹ since it can occur alone. The above trees show the evidence of
N-Bar in Jenjo.
Similarly, the findings agree with Carnie’s (2000) rules that the specifiers, complements and
adjuncts can appear on left or right of a head noun depending on the language:
Specifier rule: XP YP (Xʹ) or XP Xʹ (YP)
Adjunct rule: Xʹ Xʹ (ZP) or Xʹ (ZP) Xʹ
Complement rule: Xʹ X (WP) or Xʹ (WP) X
The study also joins Carnie (2000) and Jacobsen (1993), to assert that X-bar is a cross-linguistic
theory because the options within the rules cater for differences between languages.

Conclusion
A single noun can function as a noun phrase and it is obligatory in Jenjo. Most Jenjo noun phrases
have their head appearing first as in the analysis above. There are nominal constituents that are
larger than noun but smaller than full nominal phrase which is the minimal, intermediate and
maximal projection respectively. For instance vəaka de a Jos ‘the city of Jos’ constitutes a full
noun phrase (maximal projection), vəakã a Jos ‘city of Jos’ is the noun phrase that is smaller than
the full NP and larger than a word (intermediate projection) and lastly Jos ‘Jos’ is the minimal
projection. The elements in the minimal projections are nouns, pronouns and nominals, the
elements in the intermediate projections are nouns, pronouns, possessives, determiners, numeral,
and demonstratives while the elements in the maximal projections are nouns, pronouns, nominals,
prepositional phrases and relative clauses. Similarly, complements in Jenjo branch at Xʹ in the tree
diagram and are vital to the head i.e. closer to the head than adjunct. Genitive NP and complement
PP function as complements in Jenjo NP.
 AN X-BAR THEORETIC ACCOUNT OF JENJO NOUN PHRASES 259

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